Hummingbird

STORY BY LIESEL SCHMIDT PHOTOGRAPHY BY SV IMAGES

Tucked within Hotel Indigo, Hummingbird was launched in 2017 through the combined efforts of award-winning Chef Cathal Armstrong and Meshelle Armstrong of Restaurant Eve fame. As the masterminds behind the Eat Good Food Group, the duo’s dynamic created something special, and Hummingbird has become a culinary gem in Alexandria’s crown.

Focused on American coastal cuisine, Hummingbird offers a menu that beautifully showcases seafood presented in elegantly conceptualized dishes. “Our intention was to present an energetic bar and kitchen inspired by the American spirit of cherished traditions: clambakes and crab boils, fish fries and oyster roasts,” says Meshelle. “Our menu follows the rhythm of the seasons and celebrates the seafood pride of our favorite coastal waters.”

Even in the midst of construction, Meshelle saw the potential as an event venue in the airy and light-filled space—especially when it came to hosting weddings. Designed to mimic the colors of coastal blue waters, the interior is, indeed, perfect—and Armstrong capitalized on those hues with a tagline: “’We have the something blue covered!' Brides love it, and one even made her wedding shoes blue!” Armstrong notes.

Giving even greater strength to their events side, GM of Hummingbird Kenneth Petty brings 23 years of experience in the hospitality industry and a deepening love of the event and wedding planning niche. Using his expertise, Petty focuses on personalizing each event towards the couple, seamlessly coordinating and creating simple yet chic experiences using the influences of nature and the environment. “Our hope is to provide intimate occasions for our special guests,” says Meshelle.

“There is no more joyous an honor than to be entrusted with planning weddings for our couples, to create memories for them,” Petty adds. “Every guest, every event, every experience and every moment is unique and special, which is what keeps it exciting and fulfilling. The goal at Hummingbird is to design a personalized experience where couples enjoy the planning process as much as the evening of the celebration. Also, I just love decorating the cakes and planning an amazing party.”

220 S UNION ST, ALEXANDRIA, VA 22314 • (703) 566-1355

WWW.HUMMINGBIRDVA.NET

The Art of Eloping

FEATURING KIM OLSEN, THE AUTHOR OF YOUR WEDDING, YOUR WAY

story by liesel schmidt | photography by renée c. gage photography

Planning, coordinating, cakes, dresses, tuxes, food, flowers, décor, venues, photography… we could go on. Clearly, there’s a lot that goes into a wedding from the moment the word “Yes!” is uttered (or screamed, depending on the level of excitement from the one being proposed to). It can take weeks, months or years to create the ideal day, to go from a vision in someone’s head to an event executed with as few foibles as possible that will be remembered forever and—hopefully—be the beginning of a beautiful life created by the two people at the center of it all. It’s an industry worth more than $70 billion in the U.S. alone and all of that is because, as a society, we are cultivated to want it bigger, better and more spectacular than everyone else.

Still, there are those who rebel against the idea of the massive spectacle of weddings and see, instead, the beauty of simplicity. In one word, these people want the alternative of something that has long been on the radar, but has gotten the cold shoulder as something done as a spur-of-the-moment lapse in judgement in Vegas: elopement.

For author Kim Olsen, eloping is something that returns weddings to what they should always be about: the couple. “When you elope, the day belongs to you and no one else,” she says. “There are so very many advantages. You eliminate stress, save money, remove complicated family dynamics and don’t have to worry about leaving anyone off the guest list or out of the wedding party. You won’t be saying your vows in front of a room full of people you might only half-know and you eliminate arguing with your partner about big things, like thousands of dollars being spent, and little things, like escort cards and welcome gift bags—things that ultimately either don’t matter or no one will remember."

"...when couples go into debt to afford a big wedding, nearly half of these newlyweds consider divorce."

- kim olsen

“Money is the number one thing married couples argue about,” she goes on. “And research shows that when couples go into debt to afford a big wedding, nearly half of these newlyweds consider divorce—solely because of money. Not the best way to start a marriage. On the other hand, couples who don’t go into debt to afford a wedding—meaning they eloped or had a small wedding— end up receiving, incidentally, generous cash gifts from parents who are happy they didn’t have to foot part of a $30,000 wedding bill. And most of these couples take this cash and use it wisely for down payments, new cars or investments. I think that’s a pretty good argument for eloping. The other big reason is to avoid stress. There’s a study showing that out of 500 engaged or newlymarried couples, 96 percent said wedding planning was stressful and 55 percent considered eloping or calling the whole thing off. The survey also mentions that 86 percent of respondents suffered, on average, more than three stress-induced symptoms including skin breakouts, hair loss, loss of sex drive, insomnia and headaches all from planning what is essentially a fancy event.”

Clearly, Olsen isn’t just a proponent of eloping—she’s made herself an actual expert on the subject, having gone so far as to create a website and write a book on it. A lover of weddings who isn’t herself married, but happily ensconced in a relationship of 12 years, Olsen took her background in writing—having been a journalist for the Washingtonian for two years—and combined it with a passion for learning about all things wedding-related to create something she believes will be a resource for anyone looking to get married and not find themselves lost in the minutiae that so often overtakes the occasion. “Your Wedding, Your Way: Destination Elopements, Intimate Ceremonies, and Other Non-traditional Nuptials is an in-depth and one-of-a-kind resource for modern couples,” she explains. “There are so many ways to get married that don't require an inflated budget, months of stressful planning and a bunch of hoopla that makes you wonder, ‘Why am I even having a wedding?’ I filled the book with practical advice and helpful how-tos on planning your big day your way, plus true stories from couples who did it themselves.”

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In this way, the book mirrors her website, Art of Eloping, which is rife with information on vendors, destinations, checklists and even “Elope Diaries,” which are real-life accounts from couples who eloped for themselves, sharing details on their reasons for eloping, cost, reactions they got from their loved ones as well as photos taken along the way. In Olsen’s estimation, elopement has become popular because of social media. “Starting around 2016, Instagram photos of elopements really started cropping up,” she notes. “’Instagram envy’ is a very real thing— none more so than for wedding-related content—and seeing these gorgeous photos of couples in stunning gowns against a backdrop of a mountain range or the Mediterranean at sunset, and seeing just how happy they looked, created this aspirational snowball effect. Couples decided they didn’t want posed photos inside a church or ballroom—they wanted the carefree feeling they were seeing captured in photos on Instagram.”

As advantageous as elopement can be, there are some cons to consider—the largest being family. “Family members can sometimes feel hurt, and for very understandable reasons,” Olsen admits. “For many, they have the belief that eloping is secretive and selfish. And historically it was secretive—back in the 1500s, couples eloped to escape arranged marriages. While couples today still elope in secret, it’s for very different reasons. There’s a bit of education that goes into how to break the news to loved ones that you’re not having a traditional wedding, which is a large theme in my book,” she goes on. “It’s important to explain to family members that eloping comes in many different forms these days.”

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